Scuttlebutt Europe #3587 - 13 May

Brought to you by Seahorse magazine, Scuttlebutt Europe is a digest of sailing news and opinions, regatta results, new boat and gear information and letters from sailors -- with a European emphasis. Contributions welcome, send to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Giles Scott Gets Down To Business Giles Scott (GBR) has done almost enough to lift his fourth Finn Gold Cup with a day to spare in Gaeta on Thursday, after three races were sailed in a solid 18-25 knots. He goes into Friday's medal race with a 21 point lead over second placed Jonas Hogh-Christensen (DEN). Pieter-Jan Postma (NED) is in third a further 14 points behind.

Scott won two races while Fabian Pic (FRA) secured his place in the medal race by winning the first race of the day.

The patient wait for wind was rewarded on Thursday with more wind than the 72 boat fleet has seen during the rest of the week combined. Starting at 14-16 knots, it rose through the day, as did the sea state, to 25-28 knots, providing some awesome racing conditions for the strongest sailors in the world of sailing. It was a supreme test of physical prowess and sailing skill.

While Scott recorded a 7,1,1 to take an unassailable points lead into the medal race, Oliver Tweddell (AUS) was the next best performer of the day with 2,6,2.

The final race for the rest is scheduled for 11.00 on Friday with the medal race starting off the old town of Gaeta around 13.00.

The 112 sailors from 44 countries in the 2016 Laser Standard Men's World Championship enjoyed sparkling conditions of 12 to 15 knots in the waters off Nayarit on the west coast of Mexico. The total fleet is sailing in two groups during the qualifying series to determine the gold and silver fleets.

The first fleet was a little jumpy in the lighter conditions at the beginning of the day and needed 3 attempts to start before getting away on fourth start. In the process, 7 boats were taken out by the black flag for breaking the start line, including 9 times world champion, Robert Scheidt from Brazil.

De Guingand Bowl Race The Royal Ocean Racing Club's offshore racing season continues this weekend with the 4th race of the RORC Season's Points Championship. Designed to last 24-36 hours, the De Guingand Bowl Race starts and finishes in the Solent and is a flexi-course allowing the Royal Ocean Racing Club to design a bespoke course.

IMOCA Artemis Ocean Racing, skippered by Mikey Ferguson, is expected to take line honours for the De Guingand Bowl Race, however two yachts are set for a close battle on the water not far behind. Tony Lawson's British Class40, Concise 2, skippered by Joy Fitzgerald and German Ker 46, Shakti, skippered by Hagen Ross, both have similar speed. Concise 2 will be an all-girl team, while Shakti will be raced primarily by members of the Flensburg Sailing Club in North Germany.

The 2016 De Guingand Bowl Race will start from the Royal Yacht Squadron Line, Cowes on Saturday 14th May at 10:00.

For more information, including experimental YellowBrick Tracking using AIS, go to: www.rorc.org

Phill Maxwell Has Joined Evolution Sails Phill Maxwell has from April 2016 joined Evolution Sails at their newly opened office in STP Shipyard in the middle of the Superyacht hub of Palma de Mallorca. Phill will be working with project management, customer support and sales.

Phill has the last 7 years been working with Doyle Sailmakers. He was educated Naval Architect with honors degree in New Zealand and then worked for 4 years as a contract yacht designer. He has an extensive sailing experience from competitive sailing and the Superyacht racing circuit as tactician and trimmer. His knowledge and experience from the professional and technical aspect of sail design and development has thus evolved through his wide experience. He has been responsible for and involved in major and unique projects for high-end yachts.

Phill states that "I am excited to join the ambitious Evolution Sails team which has a refreshing approach to products and customer service. Our ethos is mutual, we want to get up there in the front by developing the business at the same speed as this challenging and rapidly moving industry".

Evolution Sails is a premium worldwide sailmaker originating in New Zealand, and is now well established also in Europe with its boutique service loft for superyachts in Palma. Evolution Sails is thus selling sails to the larger yachts in the industry, and is involved in new and exciting projects. "We are extremely pleased with Phill joining our team, thereby contributing with his extensive knowledge, experience and drive", says Evolution Sails director Siggi Mansaker.

Due to its increased workload, Evolution Sails is now looking for another experienced sailmaker for its service loft in Palma as soon as possible.

This is the final warm-up race ahead of the Solitaire Bompard Le Figaro in June for Harris, Rook, Brayshaw and Baker. Elsey and Roberts will race again in the mainly inshore ALL MER CUP in two weeks time.

The Normandie offers a 284-nautical mile tidal and rocky coastal course from Granville to Le Havre in France - with a finish close to Deauville - the start of this year's Solitaire.

With just 8-10 knots of breeze forecast for the start of the race, organisers delayed setting the course until last night.

This last-minute decision, combined with ever-changing weather forecasts pre-race, has meant planning for the Solo Normandie has been difficult for the 15 skippers taking part - particularly for the six rookie sailors, among them Rook , Harris and Brayshaw .

Despite a light, flat and drizzly start, conditions are expected to build towards the end of the race

Farr 40 Class Racing In Croatia Since its inception in 1996, the Farr 40 Class Association has conducted events in some of the world's most famous, most exotic and most beautiful cities. Casa de Campo, Cowes, Copenhagen, Los Angeles, Miami, Newport, Nassau, Porto Cervo, San Francisco and Sydney are just a few of the renowned ports to host Farr 40 regattas.

A new venue will be added to that illustrious list when the Farr 40 International Circuit comes to Croatia. Sailors will be exposed to one of the oldest, most historic cities in all of Europe when the D-Marin Farr 40 Sibenik Regatta is held May 18-21.

D-Marin Mandalina Marina will serve as host for the event, which kicks off the 2016 International Circuit. Class stalwarts Enfant Terrible and Struntje Light headline a fleet of nine entries that includes several newcomers to Farr 40 one-design competition.

Sibenik is the oldest originally Croatian city on the Adriatic coast, first mentioned in 1066. It has long been an important cultural, educational and industrial center with a large commercial port. It is one of the major tourist destination with such historic sites as St. Nicholas Fortress and the Cathedral of St. James.

This marks the first Farr 40 class event on the continent since the 2011 European Championships were held in Istanbul, Turkey.

Great American IV, per IMOCA (Open 60) Class Rules, was weighed and measured last week in Southampton, UK by Joff Brown and his team. Rene Boulaire, Chief Measurer for the class, came from France, with Assistant Measurer Sylvie Viant, to conduct the test.

Step 1: Weigh the boat with a load cell between the crane's hook and the tripod bridle..

Step 2: Put the boat in the water, detach the lifting bridle, keep the bow and stern lines on but loose so that the boat can move away from the peer when heeled to 90 degrees, have a diver connect the long orange strap to the bulb of the keel, and have the crane lift the bulb and keel (locked into position by the two hydraulic rams) until the mast is parallel to the water. Rene then puts a load cell between a strop at the masthead and a big RIB, the crane operator lets the load off on the strap, so that the keel and form of the hull is trying to right the boat, thus putting a load on the masthead/loadcell/RIB. From that measurement, Rene can calculate the stability of the boat.

It's scary to see the boat in this configuration! The rigging, mast tube, keel hangers and hydraulic rams are loaded heavily.

Step 3: Measure with the loadcell.

Step 4: Calculate! Thanks Rene and Sylvie! And thanks Joff Brown and Olly Young, this is a big checkbox checked on the road to Vendee Globe 2016...

Premier Endeavour Quay Support Announced for the RC44 Portsmouth Cup Event The RC44 Portsmouth Cup event announced today the support of world class specialist boatyard, Premier Endeavour Quay, who have been selected as an Official Supporting Partner and Provider of the event Technical Bases. The RC44 Portsmouth Cup event takes place between the 13th and 17th July 2016, the first time this prestigious racing class will stage an event in the UK.

Premier Endeavour Quay is a specialist boatyard, situated in Premier's Gosport Marina on the western shore of Portsmouth Harbour, in Gosport, and a short distance away from the world famous sailing venues of the Solent and Cowes, Isle of Wight. The yard has been selected by Teamorigin Events, the host organiser of the RC44 UK event, due to its ideal location and extensive facilities and experience. Premier Endeavour Quay is one of the UK's leading facilities in terms of delivering support for major professional yacht race projects as well as private and professional refits. There is a range of independent marine service providers housed onsite creating a valuable hub of expertise.

Premier Marinas owns and operates nine South Coast marinas. In addition to Gosport Marina, which includes Endeavour Quay, Premier's other marina locations are at Eastbourne, Brighton, Chichester, Southsea in Langstone Harbour, Port Solent, Swanwick, Noss on Dart and Falmouth. With over 5,000 berths combined, Premier Marinas strives to be the finest marina operator in the UK, providing first-class boat storage services and quality boatyard facilities at all its marinas.

GC32 Alps Challenge Traunsee Gmunden, Lake Traunsee, Austria: Before racing proper starts on the GC32 Racing Tour for the 2016 season on Lake Garda later this month, a special event is to take place in Austria this week. Teams are using this as warm-up, as well as an opportunity to visit one of sailing's most picturesque settings.

Organised by Austrian sports marketing company PROFS Consulting GmbH in association with the GC32 Racing Tour, the GC32 Alps Challenge Traunsee will take place over Thursday 12th May until Sunday 15th May on Lake Traunsee. The event features a modern match racing format, with the added bonus of 30,000 Euros in prize money.

"We have a good relationship with Traunsee and it is nice to be going back there with a new boat," says Flavio Marazzi, President of the GC32 Class Association and skipper of ARMIN STROM Sailing Team. "This will be the fourth time we've raced there since we started with a new boat and a new team back in 2013. This year it will be a 'special 'event' with a new format. We hope this format will provide the teams taking part with an enjoyable few days of racing on the lake."

Marazzi will joined on the race course by NORAUTO Racing with New Zealand former Match Racing World Champion and Volvo Ocean Race sailor Adam Minoprio helming. Minoprio won the first ever GC32 event on Lake Traunsee in 2013 as well as the first event aboard the GC32 as a foiler with the America's Cup team Luna Rossa the following year. Local representatives will be PROFS I Youth America's Cup - Team Austria, skippered by Max Trippolt, who also skippered a boat at this event in 2013.

Team Ceeref Masters Atlantic Winds After an awkward beginning to the regatta yesterday, the RC44 World Championship Marina de Sotogrande fleet racing got underway, providing a reminder to helmsmen, tacticians and crew on all 11 yachts that this Andalusian venue lies just 25km from Gibraltar and the open Atlantic beyond.

Despite substantial shifts from the westerly offshore wind, one crew managed stand-out consistency: Igor Lah's Team CEEREF which put in a 1-2-1 scoreline.

Four more races are scheduled for day two of the RC44 World Championship Marina de Sotogrande with the forecast indicating further westerlies in the 15-18 knot range.

2016 Youth Worlds Notice Of Race Released The Notice of Race for the 2016 Youth Sailing World Championships has been released.

The competition begins on 14 December and runs until 20 December in Auckland, New Zealand and the competition format for all events is fleet racing.

Based out of the Torbay Sailing Club with sailing taking place in the waters of Waiake Bay, World Sailing expects around 400 competitors from up to 70 nations to participate in the championship which will include participants of World Sailing's 2016 Emerging Nations Program.

The championship attracts only the best youth sailors from around the world and competition is notoriously tough as competitors are selected by their Member National Authority (MNA) from a host of eligible sailors within each nation. To compete at the Youth Worlds, sailors must be under the age of 19 years old on the 31st December 2016 and be nominated by their MNA.

Contact For further details and list of victories: Paul Eldrid This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Scott Disley This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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2010 Lawrie Davidson 70. 895000 USD. Located in Viareggio, Italy.

Pendragon VI was launched in California in December, 2010, the largest of a line of Davidson designs built for a local Southern California yachtsman for all-out racing in both inshore and offshore races.

The boat is built entirely in carbon fibre pre-preg and was constructed at Franklin Boat Works in New Zealand.

Seriously high quality offering with mini-maxi speed as a fraction of the price.

Plenty of form stability plus a deep-draught carbon fin and heavy bulb combine to give this natural sibling of the successful MC38 tremendous power to make maximum use of the generous sailplan. Afloat and racing and proving to be very, very fast